The present invention relates to slide dampers. More particularly, the present invention relates to slide dampers for use with sliding objects, which slide dampers have a spring assist.
Slides are used in a wide variety of applications. For example, slides may be used in conjunction with drawers, sliding racks, desk drawers, cabinets and the like to slide an object, such as a drawer, from another object, such as the cabinet in which the drawer is installed.
Many such slide arrangements include an assist feature to assist in moving the object one way or the other. That is, a spring can be used to assist in closing a drawer from the open position. In a typical assisted arrangement, a spring is mounted along a rail of the slide assembly to “pull” the drawer closed, after closing action is begun.
With conventional spring assists, the mechanism is self-closing, requiring only an initial start to unseat it from a secured, opened position. Such springs or other assists facilitate reducing the effort required to, for example, close the drawer and to assure that the drawer completely closes.
However, it has been found that an assist of sufficient strength to automatically and fully close a heavily loaded drawer or the like can result in abrupt movements and rapid closing. At times, the “strength” of the assist results in a significant impact upon reaching the fully closed position.
To this end, it has been found desirable to dampen the sliding action of such an object. For example, it may be desirable to dampen the movement of a drawer having an assisted closure when moving in one direction, typically in the closing direction. Such dampened assisted closures may be highly desirable in drawers, such as desk drawers and the like so that the drawer closes more gently.
It may also be desirable to deactivate or circumvent the damping mechanism in the opposite direction, that is, when the drawer is being pulled open. In that the opposite (e.g., opening) motion may be done without mechanical assist, and in fact may itself be restrained by the expansion of an extension spring used to assist closing, further damping is not needed and may be undesirable.
In addition, due to the varying nature of these devices, it is presently unknown to incorporate a spring assist in a single, unitary device with a damping arrangement. In fact, when used in conjunction with one another, known configurations typically employ a spring return on one side of, for example a drawer (at one runner or rail), and a damping mechanism at the other side (along the other runner or rail) of the drawer.
As such, many such spring-assisted and damped arrangements require that components are assembled to both sides of the sliding drawer. Such arrangements can be cumbersome and expensive, and could further be aesthetically unappealing when, for example, the drawer is in the open position.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a self-closing slide mechanism that has a damper operational in the closing direction. Desirably, the damping action such a self-closing slide is not operational in the opening direction of a drawer or the like to which the self-closing slide is connected. More desirably, such a slide damper is compact and minimizes the number of components required for one-way damping operation in a slide.